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Futures of the Human Subject focuses on the representation of the effects of technology use on human subjectivity in several recent near-future science fiction novels. Sharing the idea that human subjects are constructed in the world in which they exist, this volume inscribes itself in the wider field of posthumanism which contests the liberal humanist notion of people as self-contained, autonomous agents. At the same time, it is the first substantial study of literary representations of the human subject carried out within the conceptual framework of Foucault-inflected philosophy of technical mediation, which examines the nature of the relation between people and specific technologies as well as the way in which this relation affects human subjectivity. As such, the book may help readers to exercise more effective control over the way in which they are constituted as subjects in this technologically saturated world.
Facing threats like climate change and nuclear warfare, science fiction authors have conjured apocalyptic scenarios of human extinction. Can such gloomy fates help us make sense of our contemporary crises? How important is the survival of our species if we wind up battling for an Earth that has become an unhabitable hellscape? What other possible futures do narratives of the end of humanity allow us to imagine? Michael Bérubé explores the surprising insights of classic and contemporary works of SF that depict civilizational collapse and contemplate the fate of Homo sapiens. In a lively, conversational style, he considers novels by writers including Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Liu C...
The Insectile and the Deconstruction of the Non/Human defines, conceptualizes, and evaluates the insectile—pertaining to an entomological fascination—in relation to subject formation. The book is driven by a central dynamic between form and formlessness, further staging an investigation of the phenomenon of fascination using Lacanian psychoanalysis, suggesting that the psychodrama of subject formation plays itself out entomologically. The book’s engagement with the insectile—its enactments, cultural dreamwork, fantasy transformations—‘in-forming’ the so-called human subject undertakes a broader deconstruction of said subject and demonstrates the foundational but occluded role o...
Centred on the metaphor of bridges and knots, this volume investigates the dialogic and dialectical relationships between socially dissimilar and topographically distant cultures. The contributions here explore various methodological frameworks for discourses and theories that purport to conceptualize cultural spaces, which – as opposed to objective, geographical areas – are characterized by the propensity to bind topographical distances by means of symbolic ties and perimeters. The chapters address possible juxtapositions and intersections of spatial and temporal dimensions of cultural practice, religious and ethical “ties and knots” between lands and cultures, disconnections between historical, literary and cultural epochs, discourses of cultural entanglement and cultural ensnarement on individual and social levels, and the possibilities of raising aesthetic bridges between various cultures in music, poetry and visual arts, among other topics.
Entangled Fictions: Nonhuman Animals in an Indian World studies the ethical and affective relationships between human and nonhuman animals in Indian fictional worlds. While drawing upon existing theoretical and philosophical texts with nonhumanist underpinnings, Entangled Fictions argues that the corpus is limited epistemologically and politically when it comes to their examinations of the nonhuman in India. Deeply influenced by the political/existential expediencies of our times, the book traverses several genres, shifts from fictional to anecdotal, and transitions from autobiographical to spectra in effort to introduce readers to fictional worlds marked by human-nonhuman fluidity and trans-species contiguity that was imagined and lived much before the telos of human extinction became either a global or local concern.
Half a century after his demise, and over a century after the publication of his first novel Where Angels Fear to Tread in 1905, E. M. Forster still remains within the scope of interest of readers and critics. His life and his works continue to stir emotions and raise questions concerning humanity, nationality, and world culture(s). However, the opinions vary as to the continuation of the interest in the writer and his works. Some see him and his novels as old-fashioned, while others, like Zadie Smith, find Forster inspiring and the ‘muddled’ protagonists of his books fascinating. Is the interest in this writer to continue, or is it doomed to gradual oblivion? What is there in his life a...
Drawing on thousands of historical documents from Polish and Dutch archives, this book explores Cold War cultural exchange between so-called ‘smaller powers’ of this global conflict, which thus far has been predominately explored from the perspective of the two superpowers or more pivotal countries. By looking at how cultural, artistic and scholarly relations were developed between Poland and the Netherlands, Michał Wenderski sheds new light on the history of the Cultural Cold War that was not always orchestrated solely by its main players. Less pivotal states – for example, Poland and the Netherlands – likewise intentionally created their international cultural policies and shaped their cultural exchange with countries from the other side of the Iron Curtain. This study reconstructs these policies and identifies the varying factors that influenced them – both official and less formal. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, history of the Cold War, post-war European history, international cultural relations, Dutch studies and Polish studies.
La educación inclusiva, que materializa el derecho de las personas con discapacidad a estudiar en la misma aula que sus compañeros sin discapacidad, es el modelo educativo implantado en España. Por otro lado, en el contexto actual es cada vez más necesario aprender lenguas extranjeras, sobre todo la inglesa. Este libro analiza la enseñanza de idiomas a personas con discapacidad sensorial, especialmente en las etapas de formación postobligatorias, centrándose en cuestiones esenciales para entenderla, como sus conceptos clave, las principales políticas e instrumentos nacionales e internacionales mediante los que se regula y potencia, los perfiles del alumnado con discapacidad sensorial...